


a chance, something to do

by sandpapersnowman



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Flirting, Innuendo, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Suggestive Themes, Walking In On Someone, Wet Dream, background martin's crush on jon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2020-05-18 11:11:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19333378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandpapersnowman/pseuds/sandpapersnowman
Summary: "I made you tea," Martin says, holding the second mug out cautiously as he walks to Elias's desk. "If you want it."Elias smiles. He actuallysmilesat him, wide and sugary sweet, and when he rests his head in one hand, Martin could almost swear Elias looks him up and down.(season 1 era, when Martin is staying in the archives!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inle/gifts).



> written for hal, who is a saint for enduring me going 'it'll be posted today' for Four Days before i actually had time to post it. i'll also be doing another chapter of things actually Happening between them but i wanna get this up finally lmao
> 
> title taken from phoenix's [Role Model](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/phoenix/rolemodel.html). i'd actually love to see what percentage of my fics are phoenix titles tbh because its gotta be... Most

Sleeping in the Archives feels weird for the first few nights — it's like a hotel he doesn't remember checking into, and every time he wakes up he panics and swears he can see worms shivering back out of his vision, but he's... Fine. Staying there is fine. Hell, with his commute eliminated, he's technically getting more sleep than he's had in years, even if it is restless and full of nightmares.

The biggest problem is Elias. He's in his office before Martin wakes up, and doesn't leave until after Martin is already half asleep and the faint open and close of the door doesn't bother him enough to open his eyes.

Martin thought _Jon_ was a workaholic. Jeez.

He's been buying his own tea to make in the mornings, a little nicer than the packets the break room is stocked with, and somehow it becomes natural to make a second cup when he wakes up. He always makes a second one for Jon during their lunch, why not make another now for Elias? The guy's always been weirdly distant for a direct superior, but never outright unkind.

Martin carefully holds both mugs in one hand and knocks lightly.

"Come in."

Despite the early hour, Elias doesn't seem surprised to see him.

"I made you tea," Martin says, holding the second mug out cautiously as he walks to Elias's desk. "If you want it."

Elias smiles. He actually _smiles_ at him, wide and sugary sweet, and when he rests his head in one hand, Martin could almost swear Elias looks him up and down.

"That's very nice of you," Elias purrs. "Thank you, Martin."

"Y-Yeah, of course," he stutters, holding out the second mug with a repressed nervous giggle. "No problem."

Elias takes the tea from his hand. If his fingertips linger just a few moments longer than necessary, Martin must be the only one that notices, and if Elias makes a pleased noise into the cup with his first sip, Martin certainly doesn't let it go to his head.

"Are you comfortable?" Elias asks suddenly, as Martin is thinking of ways to leave without seeming rude. "Staying here?"

"Oh, uh, I suppose?" He shrugs. "There's no place like home, but home was... Filled with worms and fun new traumatic memories," he laughs. He doesn't want to think about worms burrowed into his mattress, waiting for him to lay down, or slipping into his food to eat him from the inside out, or pouring out from the showerhead when he turns it on. Staying at the Archives gives him peace from his new biggest fears, at least, even if it doesn’t feel _welcoming_. "I'm not _un_ comfortable," Martin decides. "Why?"

Elias shrugs as well, leaning back away from his work to just relax in his chair and take another sip of tea.

"If there's anything else you need to be comfortable, don't hesitate to let me know. You've been through a great deal."

Martin nods, agrees. Thinks but doesn't say that he'd appreciate more privacy — he's too afraid of being caught to do anything more than hide his morning wood until it goes away — but Elias's gentle smile twitches as though he's somehow heard it anyway.

"I'm sure it's not easy spending all of your time at work, but please take care of yourself," Elias adds.

Martin flushes red. The innuendo, or double entendre, or whatever it technically is, has to be an accident. It's —

"Or you can let me or Jon know if you need anything, and we can help take care of you."

— _Oh_ , he can't think about that. Jon is — he's been half in love with Jon since he was assigned to the Archives, that's already all he thinks about, but the idea of _Elias, too,_ one mouth on his neck and one trailing down his stomach, four hands on him, both of them talking him off just telling him what they'd like to do to him —

"Right," Martin says quickly, "of course. I will." He clears his throat and steps back toward Elias's open door. "I — I need to get dressed before I start working, probably," he laughs. Thank God for defense mechanism humor kicking in. "Shouldn't be filing and researching in just my pajamas, should I?"

"I imagine not," Elias huffs, that smile _still_ set on his face like he _is_ imagining it. Like maybe he _likes_ it, and _wants_ to see Martin in next to nothing.

No, no more lusting after his boss's boss. He does enough lusting after his own boss.

"Yeah. So I'll just be... Thanks. Bye."

Elias gives him a small wave with the hand not supporting his mug of tea, and Martin closes the door again when he leaves.

He _really_ needs to do something if his brain is resorting to fantasizing over Elias.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two days later, Martin is turning the kettle on in the break room when Elias joins him.
> 
> “Have you been sleeping any better?” he asks. “If you’re going to be staying for the long haul, I thought we might as well spend a little Institute money on a decent bed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: it gets saucier i promised
> 
> this: Saucy but not As Saucy as it Will get

Two days later, Martin is turning the kettle on in the break room when Elias joins him.

“Good morning,” Elias greets him.

It makes Martin startle, for multiple reasons. The first and most easily admitted being that Elias never leaves his office while he’s working, as far as Martin knows, and he’s used to the casual silence in the mornings. The second is that Elias really is Not There one moment and There the next, apparently a silent walker in his shiny Oxfords.

The third is that… Well. For the first time in months, he didn’t have nightmares. He’d consider it a good thing, but what had taken the place of his usual discomforts was instead _Elias_.

He’d been gentle and sweet, nearly reverent, taking his time kissing down Martin’s throat and running hands up his shirt. He’d pressed fingertips warm and intentional over Martin’s chest, his stomach, over the small of his back, and he’d kissed the noises right out of Martin’s mouth when it made him shudder or sigh.

Martin had barely noticed, but he’d been in his own apartment again, pre-Prentiss, when Elias laid him out on the bed. Martin’s shirt came off, and so had the sweatpants dream-him had been wearing, and Elias had crawled fully clothed onto his naked lap and kissed him properly.

Things escalated.

Elias never touched his cock with his hands, never even got near it; all Elias had to do was barely rock his hips down, more of a suggestion than actual contact, and Martin got the hint. He was brave enough to pull Elias’s face down again to keep kissing him, arching up to rut himself into the space between Elias’s thigh and the bulge in _his_ trousers.

It should have been uncomfortable with Elias still wearing everything, but his cock slid against him slick and easy and _good_.

He’d cum all over Elias’s thigh and watched it catch in the fabric and drip down onto his own skin. He woke up abruptly, coated in just as much mess in reality, and tried not to think about it too hard.

“Hello,” Martin sputters, taking a couple too many seconds to respond. “Good morning.”

Rather than leaving it at that and returning to his office, Elias leans against the counter near Martin.

(Is he closer than he should be, or is Martin just _very_ aware of his presence now?)

“Have you been sleeping any better?” he asks. “If you’re going to be staying for the long haul, I thought we might as well spend a little Institute money on a decent bed. Considering everything we deal with, we may as well furnish a safe room, just in case.”

Martin nods.

“That’d be — sure, if you want. I don’t mind either way,” Martin shrugs, forcibly _not_ looking at him. “We should have a dedicated ‘in case things go to hell’ room, yeah.”

Elias huffs a little laugh, and even without looking at Elias he _knows_ his smile has gotten a little wider.

“Yes, we should,” he agrees. “Hopefully it wouldn’t be used for anything _unprofessional_ , but I think it’s become a necessity.”

Martin’s ears _burn_ , immediately thinking of the many unprofessional ways he could use that bed.

“Right,” he squeaks.

He makes some half-assed excuse about washing up before he starts his day, and Elias watches him leave with a completely appropriate smile for a boss/employee dynamic. At least one of them is civilized.

And, whatever, maybe Martin takes the risk jerking off in the shower that was only installed for decontamination purposes, and is really just a glorified, over-large faucet in a small room with a drain, but Elias’s casual joking about illicit activities is stuck in his head. Elias works late, he could sneak into the safe room with Martin and they could fool around under the cover of darkness. It doesn’t have to be a _thing_ , just some de-stressing between coworkers. Nothing too involved.

(He breaks his own mental promise anyway. He cums in his fist imagining Elias panting softly against his mouth, breathily begging Martin not to stop whatever fantasy action he’s doing that’s got Elias so worked up in the first place. Definitely more involved than ‘de-stressing’, Martin.)

Somehow, by the end of the day, Elias has already gotten a pair of workmen to bring a bed down into the safe room and transferred the pillows and blankets that had previously been strewn over the cot.

Martin smiles to himself. Yeah, they should have a panic room that’s more comfortable than a cot and basic survival needs, considering they might need them for more situations like Martin’s in the future. But it’s still… Jon used to sleep here all the time, apparently, and Elias never offered to get Jon a _bed_. Even if it’s because Martin really has to stay there rather than Jon being too lazy to go home after a certain hour, it still makes Martin feel _fussed_ over.

He undoes his belt buckle and shucks his trousers off, with his cardigan following shortly after. The cool basement air feels nice after spending the day covered up, even if he knows it’ll be too chilly to be comfortable past a certain point in the night.

It’s as he’s just pulling his shirt over his head that he hears it.

“ _Oh_ , sorry.”

Martin has never jumped so far out of his skin in his life. Martin whips himself around to face the sudden figure in the doorway; he’s relieved when his brain catches up and realizes it’s only Elias, but a familiar anxiety slams back into his chest upon realizing it’s _Elias_.

He can’t exactly put his shirt back on without feeling more exposed anyway, so he just… Holds it uselessly to his chest and prays it’s not covering as little as it feels like it is.

“Sorry, I didn’t — I didn’t know you were there, I wouldn’t have — sorry, you scared me,” Martin babbles, with a hysterical little laugh at the end for good measure. “Is there — d’you need something?”

“Sorry to sneak up on you.” He doesn’t _look_ sorry; Elias is smiling too nicely at him, too brightly for a boss having accidentally walked in on an employee getting undressed, even as his eyes catch on Martin’s muffin top and his soft chest. “I wanted to stop by and ask if the bed was comfortable enough for you,” Elias says, finally turning his head up to look away from Martin standing startled and more than half naked.

“It’s fine,” Martin says quickly. “I mean, I — I haven’t gotten in yet, but I’m sure that it’s fine,” he smiles.

Elias gives him another glance, not at all subtle in the way he takes in Martin’s frame again before he steps back out of the door.

“Well, I’ll be working late tonight, so let me know if you need anything, okay?”

God, Martin’s mouth is dry. He swallows.

“Yeah, okay, I-I will. Thank you.”

Elias gives him one last grin before he pulls the door shut.

“Goodnight, Martin.”

“Night.”

Martin waits a beat, waits for the sound of Elias’s footsteps to move away from the door, before practically collapsing onto the bed.

Jesus.

He hadn’t imagined that, right? Elias looking him over, not once, but _twice_ , and — and _smirking_ about it. Maybe he’s just secretly a terror, and taking advantage of Martin being here to startle and bother him at every turn, but… No, but he’s their boss. He could do that any time, so why would he choose to single Martin out now?

If it were anyone else, he might be thinking about trying to contact HR or something, but Elias doesn’t seem like he’s being malicious about it. If anything, he seemed… _Seems_...

Martin gulps again. _Interested_ , he thinks, but that’s not possible. It just isn’t. Elias is probably married outside of the office; he’s handsome, he’s charming, he’s old enough to have settled down, divorced, and settled down again, probably. If he’s not already involved with someone else, there’s no reason he’d go for _Martin_ — he’s just an assistant to someone that already works under Elias, and he’s never found himself to be much of a catch.

He anxiously flattens his shirt out on his lap. Elias is probably just enjoying the novelty of someone being in the Archives as late as he is. That must be it.

The bed _is_ comfortable. Elias probably could have gone for something smaller, since it’s just a bare necessity sort of thing, but it’s large enough for Martin to sprawl himself out on his belly and stretch his legs without any limbs hanging off. It’s certainly bigger than any bed Martin’s ever slept in, and firmer. He barely remembers to plug in his phone and set his alarm before he drifts off.

**Author's Note:**

> supplemental: i'm also [sandpapersnowman on tumblr](sandpapersnowman.tumblr.com) and lyric/ille in the rq discord! hmu!


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